I Almost Fell For It,
@GardenGerty (160615)
United States
November 2, 2015 9:09am CST
I want to make sure you do not fall for the scam, spam, phishing expedition I almost fell for.
I have been online for about three hours now. I have been here and at all of my other websites. I am running swagbucks videos.
SUDDENLY there is a pop up that freezes my screen. It says it is a Java Script Application. This pop up names the service provider and has an IP address and says my personal information and passwords are at risk. I am provided with an 800 number purporting to be IT for this company.
I call the number, get a foreign sounding guy with others in the background. He has me read the warnings. He says I have to press my windows key and give him remote access.
Thinking twice I decided to call my provider direct. He did not like it, but I did it anyway. I was quickly told this has happened before, it is a scam and they would try to charge me after I gave them remote access. So I did not.
On the pop up there was a check box that said "prevent this window from opening other dialogue boxes. I did and it disappeared. I had been having one pop up after another open up as I closed them.
All is right now. I thought I would share this experience, and let you know that there is a scam out there. Good luck.
27 people like this
27 responses
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
2 Nov 15
There was a popular telephone scam in England for a while in which someone would call and purport to be a representative of Microsoft who has detected a problem on your computer. They then progressed to asking the owner to allow them remote access to fix the problem.
I had this call several times and usually took great delight in explaining why they were unable to view my computer as they claimed.
This has obviously now become an online scam.
4 people like this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
2 Nov 15
@GardenGerty Another common online scam is to generate a pop up message stating that you need to install Flash Player, with a link that results in installing malware. This is becoming old now, but still seems to be around.
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (160615)
• United States
2 Nov 15
When I was working I got this phone call at one of the houses where I worked. The company had computers in all residences. I alerted the central office and a warning was sent out to all the remote locations to ignore it. That is why i suspected this one.
2 people like this
@DeborahDiane (40288)
• Laguna Woods, California
3 Nov 15
@GardenGerty - I hate all those scams that have been going on.
2 people like this
@silvermist (19702)
• India
2 Nov 15
I try to be careful and not fall for those.But you have to be on the look out for them.Thank you for writing about this as all can be forewarned.
3 people like this
@GardenGerty (160615)
• United States
3 Nov 15
@Marcyaz @silvermist I like to believe I have gotten smarter as I have gotten older.
1 person likes this
@Marcyaz (35316)
• United States
2 Nov 15
Thanks for letting us know, I had something similiar to this happen to me last year but I decided to check on it before doing anything that is when I found out it was definitely a scam. Now I don't believe anything that pops up is for real.
3 people like this
@GardenGerty (160615)
• United States
2 Nov 15
Savy users check the facts. I am glad you did that. Hopefully we can all spread the word.
3 people like this
@Marcyaz (35316)
• United States
2 Nov 15
@GardenGerty
I let everyone I know when there is a new scam out.
2 people like this
@GardenGerty (160615)
• United States
3 Nov 15
Each time I deleted it it popped another window up, until I saw that check box that let me stop it. I started out by deleting it.
@GardenGerty (160615)
• United States
3 Nov 15
I have no idea where it came from, and it did not seem connected to any of my usual websites.
@petertheo (148)
• South Africa
3 Nov 15
They are getting cleverer at scams by the day! We have to be ahead of them though!
2 people like this
@GardenGerty (160615)
• United States
3 Nov 15
That is why I wanted to share with my online friends.
1 person likes this
@celticeagle (166718)
• Boise, Idaho
2 Nov 15
I fell for that last spring. I called my provider and they explained how they are trying to get it figured out.
2 people like this
@GardenGerty (160615)
• United States
3 Nov 15
Calling your provider seems to be the best choice all the way around.
1 person likes this
@bunnybon7 (50973)
• Holiday, Florida
3 Nov 15
thanks for the heads up. its appreciated
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (160615)
• United States
3 Nov 15
Hope things are going well for you. We certainly do not need computer problems on top of everything else life throws at us.
@Shellyann36 (11384)
• United States
2 Nov 15
Thanks for the warning. I am glad you thought to call your provider before giving up control.
2 people like this
@megamatt (14292)
• United States
2 Nov 15
Those scams are particularly nasty, especially when they invade seemingly innocent websites. It's rather terrifying and plays on the very real fears something is wrong. I've run into a scam or two like it, and sadly, have known people who are fallen for such a scam. It's the worst type of scam out there, I honestly believe. The one which plays on rather fears.
Getting out of there as soon as you can is best. Because i'm a paranoid person, I start running the Malwarebytes and the virus scan to see if my computer is clean. Better safe than sorry, I always say. Let's hope no one falls for this, even though they sadly will.
2 people like this
@GardenGerty (160615)
• United States
2 Nov 15
My tech guy has Windows Defender running on this one. I may do some other scouting around as well.
1 person likes this
@changjiangzhibin89 (16756)
• China
3 Nov 15
It is a good job you were on the ball then ,otherwise you would be taken in.
1 person likes this
@TiarasOceanView (70022)
• United States
2 Nov 15
I think I may have had that once, but did not respond.
2 people like this
@GardenGerty (160615)
• United States
3 Nov 15
I was having a hard time getting rid of the pop up screen.
1 person likes this
@Jessicalynnt (50523)
• Centralia, Missouri
2 Nov 15
that's a clever one, and yeah, always call a number you find for whatever is going on, not the one provided, half of the time it's fake
2 people like this
@GardenGerty (160615)
• United States
3 Nov 15
I am not always able to think logically, but it is getting to be more of a habit.
1 person likes this
many scams around..can't be too careful!
@GardenGerty (160615)
• United States
3 Nov 15
I am pretty inexperienced so I was glad I could dial straight through to my provider.
1 person likes this
@jaboUK (64354)
• United Kingdom
3 Nov 15
@GardenGerty I'm a novice with the computer, so any information I can glean is very welcome.
@Marilynda1225 (82704)
• United States
2 Nov 15
Thanks for the heads up and good thing you decided to call your provider before you got sucked into that scam
1 person likes this
@Pattitude (1287)
• Newton, North Carolina
3 Nov 15
I am glad that you were too smart for them. When I lived with my sister, I answered the phone when she was at work. It was a foreign guy saying that he was calling back to address our pc problems. I said, what pc problems? He told me I had to get in front of the pc and he could help me. I told him to get lost, that not only my sister, but I know how to fix pc problems. And I hung up and he called back and cussed me out for hanging up on him. They kept calling again for weeks. I suppose we should have called the police.
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (160615)
• United States
3 Nov 15
Wow! they were really determined.
1 person likes this
